Past Webinar
Five Whys: A retrospective on the collapse of African startups in 2023
Wed, Jan 31 @7pm EAT | 6pm SAST | 5pm WAT
In 2023, over 30 African startups collapsed across the continents leading startup ecosystems including Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Collectively, these startups raised over $200 million in disclosed funding since their founding.
Why did we see so many collapses of especially well-funded startups?
What conditions contributed to these failures?
What red flags were missed?
Will we see this trend continue into 2024?
What can be done to effect systemic change?
Join us for a conversation with leading investment professionals as we:
• Analyze the major startup collapses of 2023
• Discuss potential red flags missed by investors and founders, and
• Explore the responsibilities of both founders and investors in building sustainable startup ecosystems
Our Themes
Retrospective on 2023 Collapses
Investment Fund Responsibilities
Missed Red Flags
Systemic Change for a Resilient Ecosystem
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Our Speakers
Anthea Hartzenberg
HEAD OF PLATFORM & COMMUNITY – CatalyzU
Anthea Hartzenberg is a senior growth, communications, and community strategist with 10 years of experience in the African & European startup and tech ecosystems. She formerly headed Engagement at OfferZen, Africa’s largest developer talent marketplace. Anthea scaled OfferZen’s B2B and B2C community strategy and branded merchandise operations from 100,000 developers in South Africa to six additional European markets, including Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and Spain. Prior to OfferZen, she worked as Strategic Communications and Media Relations Manager at JUMO, the leading fintech in Africa at the time, valued at over $400 million.
Segun Cole
Managing Partner – Maasai
Segun Cole is a Serial entrepreneur and CEO/Founder of Ekocab; An on-demand mobility marketplace for high end rides. He started his Career as a New mobility Consultant advising Governments on micromobility policies. He is an Investor and also sits on the Board of various African Tech Startups. He is the President of Startup Huddle Lagos (A Community of 235 Startups from Pre-series to Series C) powered by GEN Global, he also sits on the Board of GEN Africa.
He is the Founder of Fund The Gap Network; that advocates for underrepresented and underfunded founders in the Allocation of VC Funding. He is a policy commission member (NESG), New Urban Mobility Alliance (NUMO) member, Tony Elumelu Foundation Mentor and African Business Heroes Judge.
He is an International Partner to the World Business Angel Fund, and a Partner of Vertex Fund with $15m AUM. He is a Venture Partner at Wefunder, Openner. VC and Zero to One Capital. He is currently a member of the SEC working committee on Angel Investment and Venture Capital in Nigeria.
Cynthia Chisom
VP, Venture Labs & Ecosystem – Spark Afrika
Cynthia Chisom serves as a Start-up Advisor/Start-up Mentor across global incubators and accelerators like CCHub, Gener8 Accelerator, Talemia, GAF Incubator, VC4A, MZZ Europe Ventures, Inqumax Incubator, Fuel Africa Incubator, Start-up Launchcode, Futurize Global, GCIP, UNIDO etc, helping early stage start-up founders navigate through the early years of building a start-up.
Cynthia is passionate about using entrepreneurship as a tool for efficiently dealing with pressing problems in society. She uses innovative methodology and product management strategies to tackle social challenges.
Cynthia loves to develop, manage and organize new products in technology that can alleviate the challenges of the world, develop detailed business plans to drive small or radical changes, present findings and suggestions with ample justification and practical advice, setting strategic goals and making sure they are measurable and describable.
She believes that the development and growth of the business lies in building relationships in the industry and identifying opportunities. Combining strategic thinking and sharp executions coupled with relentless ambition and energy, enables her to help any business reach targets, goals, and attain objectives.
Cynthia has received awards and recognitions for innovative thinking and look forward to opportunities in the Social Entrepreneurship and Tech Industry to share her experience and knowledge gained over time.